Smoking habit control kit

ABSTRACT

A smoking habit control kit including a set of holders including respective housings formed on their one ends with tubular mouthpieces and on their respective opposite ends with smoking piece receiving barrels, such mouthpieces and barrels being separated by respective trapping chambers. A transverse blocking wall separates the trapping chamber and barrel and is formed with a central aperture. The respective barrels include respective bleed passages in their peripheral walls, the cross sectional flow area of the bleed passages for sequential holders of the set being progressively larger to admit progressively greater quantities of diluting air to the barrel and mouthpiece as the user selectively progresses through the holders of the set. The holders each include a core received within the respective trapping chambers and formed on one end with a face abutting the transverse wall and having a diametrical linear scar formed thereacross to define a trapping passage leading radially outwardly from the aperture to the opposite sides of such core to enable smoke traveling through the aperture to flow radially outwardly through the opposite trapping passages to opposite sides of the core for axial flow rearwardly along an annular passage formed between such core and the wall of the trapping chamber to finally enter the mouthpiece and exit into the smoker&#39;&#39;s mouth. Consequently, the smoker desiring to control or break his smoking habit may commence utilizing the holder having the smallest bleed passage thus only slightly diluting the smoke drawn from the smoke piece and trapping tars and nicotene in the barrel and trapping chamber as the smoke and air mixture flows therethrough. The smoker may progress from holder to holder as he adjusts to the bleed air admitted for each respective holder in the kit to thus progressively mix greater and greater amounts of air with the smoke from the smoke piece thus reducing the hazard resulting from smoking and decreasing the smoker&#39;&#39;s reliance on smoking.

tlnited States Patent [1 1 Anderson May 28, 1974 i 1 SMOKING HABIT CONTROL KIT [76] Inventor: Daniel J. Anderson, 4909 lronwood,

Seal Beach, Calif. 90740 [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 307,429

[52] US. Cl. 131/171 A, 131/198 R, 131/210,

Primary Examiner-Joseph S. Reich Attorney, Agent, or FirmFulwider Patton Rieber Lee & Utecht [5 7] ABSTRACT A smoking habit control kit including a set of holders including respective housings formed on their one ends with tubular mouthpieces and on their respective opposite ends with smoking piece receiving barrels, such mouthpieces and barrels being separated by respective trapping chambers. A transverse blocking wall separates the trapping chamber and barrel and is formed with a central aperture. The respective barrels include respective bleed passages in their peripheral walls, the cross sectional flow area of the bleed passages for sequential holders of the set being progressively larger to admit progressively greater quantities of diluting air to the barrel and mouthpiece as the user selectively progresses through the holders of the set. The holders each include a core received within the respective trapping chambers and formed on one end with a face abutting the transverse wall and having a diametrical linear scar formed thereacross to define a trapping passage leading radially outwardly from the aperture to the opposite sides of such core to enable smoke traveling through the aperture to flow radially outwardly through the opposite trapping passages to opposite sides of the core for axial flow rearwardly along an annular passage formed between such core and the wall of the trapping chamber to finally enter the mouthpiece and exit into the smokers mouth. Consequently, the smoker desiring to control or break his smoking habit may commence utilizing the holder having the smallest bleed passage thus only slightly diluting the smoke drawn from the smoke piece and trapping tars and nicotene in the barrel and trapping chamber as the smoke and air mixture flows therethrough. The smoker may progress from holder to holder as he adjusts to the bleed air admitted for each respective holder in the kit to thus progressively mix greater and greater amounts of air with the smoke from the smoke piece thus reducing the hazard resulting from smoking and decreasing the smokers reliance on smoking.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SMOKING HABIT CONTROL KIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION drawn from a smoke piece to dillute such smoke before entering into the smokers mouth.

2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous smokers withdrawal devices have been proposed which include metering valves incorporating adjustment means to enable the smoker to adjust the quantity of dilluting air introduced to the smoke drawn from a smoke piece. However, devices of this type generally suffer the shortcoming that they are relatively expensive to manufacture thus making the cost thereof to the public relatively high and discouraging the smoker from discarding such devices after relatively short periods of use thus resulting in the devices becoming contaminated with long use resulting in the emission of distasteful odors, thus further discouraging use thereof.

Further, smokers withdrawal kits have been proposed which include a plurality of holders which are each formed with respective interior walls having central apertures formed therein and including respective draft devices which are formed with tips that project through such apertures and cooperate therewith to form restricted annular smoke passages which are alleged to assist in removing tars from the smoke. A withdrawal kit of this type is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,636,960.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The smoking habit control kit of the present invention is characterized by a plurality of holders, each formed in one end with a mouthpiece and in its opposite end with a smoke piece-receiving barrel, such mouthpiece and barrel being separated by a trapping chamber having a core received therein. Formed between the barrel and trapping chamber is a transverse wall which forms a central aperture and has the core abutted against one side thereof, such core having a diametrical trapping passage formed across the face thereof to form trapping passages leading radially outwardly from the aperture to the opposite sides of such core to direct smoke into the annular passage formed between such core and walls of the trapping chamber.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a smoking habit control kit embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 of a cigarette holder having the unlit end portion of a cigarette therein and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are respective transverse sectional views taken along the respective lines 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The smoking habit control kit of the present invention includes, generally, a plurality of cigarette holders 11 designated 1 through 5 in FIG. 1, each of such holders being of generally cylindrical tubular shape and formed on one end with a mouthpiece l3 and on their respective opposite ends with cigarette-receiving barrels l5. Formed intermediate the respective mouthpieces and barrels 13 and 15 are respective trapping chambers 17 which have one end thereof formed by a transverse wall 19 formed centrally with a smoke passing aperture 21. Received telescopically within the respective trapping chambers 13 are respective cylindrical cores, generally designated 23, which have their one ends formed with flat faces 24 that abut the respective transverse walls 19, respective diametrical passages 25 being scarred across the faces 24 to form radial smoke-trapping passages that lead radially outwardly from the respective apertures 21 to the periphery of the cores 23 to permit smoke and air to flow generally axially past such cores 23 and into the respective mouthpieces 13. The respective holders 11, commencing with No. 2 and progressing through No. 5, have increasingly larger composite cross-section breather ports 31 formed in the walls of the respective barrels 15 for progressively admitting larger quantities of air as the smoker progresses from holder No. 2 to holder No. 5, it being appreciated that holder No. 1 merely acts as a trapping device. Consequently, the smoker may start with the holder designated No. 1 to initially trap tars in the smoke from the cigarette 33 and after a period of time he may advance to the holder designated No. 2 which admits a small amount of air through the port 31. The air admitted through such port will mix with the smoke drawn from a cigarette 33 received in the barrel 15 to flow through the aperture 21 and radially outwardly through the trapping passages 25 to thus cause a portion of the tars in such smoke to be trapped against flowing rearwardly through the mouthpiece 13 with the smoke and air mixture. This same tar trapping concept is incorporated in all such holders 11.

The holders 11 are conveniently constructed of plastic and are formed essentially of four separate pieces, the mouthpiece 13 being substantially tubular in shape and formed with a relatively small cross sectional flow passage 37. The mouthpiece 13 is formed on its left hand end, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3, with a frustrum shaped extremity which is reduced in exterior diameter at 39 to form an abutting shoulder 41.

The barrel l5 and trapping chamber 17 are integral, and received within the barrel 15 is a hat-shaped metallic insert 45 which is flared outwardly at its open end to form an annular flange 47 which seats against the end of such barrel 15. The opposite end of such insert 45 is formed with an inturned flange 49 against which the end of the cigarette 33 abuts.

The bleed port 31 is formed in the wall of the cigarette-receiving barrel 15 of the No. 2 holder and has a diameter of 0.170 inches. Similarly, the No. 3 holder includes two breather holes, each having a diameter of 0.135 inches. The No. 4 holder has two 0.170 inch diameter breather ports 31 and the No. 5 holder includes four 0.170 inch diameter breather ports 31.

The trapping core 23 is formed with a core section 51 which'is slightly smaller than the interior of the trapping chamber 17 to cooperate therewith in forming an axially extending annular passage 52 leading axially along such core portion. The trapping passages 25 are 0.03 inches deep to allow for passages therethrough of gases while providing a comfortable resistance to the smoker drawing on the holder. The core 23 is formed at its right hand end, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3, with a reduced-in-diameter axial tip 53 which forms a shoulder 55 for abutting the left hand end of the mouthpiece 13. The reduced-in-diameter axial tip 53 is sized to provide for a slip fit within the mouthpiece passage 37 and is formed on its diametrical opposite sides with respective axially projecting grooves 57 and 59 which form axial flow passages leading rearwardly from the annular passage 17 to the mouthpiece passage 37. it will be appreciated that the location of the respective grooves 57 and 59 on the core 23 are rotated 90 from the radially outer ends of the trapping passage 27 to thus cause smoke flowing rearwardly through the annular passage 17 to take a somewhat spiral path to thus initiate a limited amount of centrifugal force on the flowing gases to thus deposit additional amounts of tar on the interior wall of the trapping chamber 17. To further facilitate this trapping action, annularly extending peripheral trapping ribs 63, 65 and 67 are spaced axially along opposite sides of the core 23 in direct axial alignment with the respective grooves 57.

In practice, the holders 11 are packaged in a plastic box 71 having a cover in the form of a sliding lid 73.

in operation, the smoker desiring to reduce or break his smoking habit will initially select the holder designated No. 1 and will insert the cigarette 33 to be smoked in the metallic insert 45 received within the barrel 15. lt will be appreciated that holder No. 1 does not include a bleed port 31 in the wallof the barrel so such holder merely acts as a tar trap. The smoke moving rearwardly through the aperture 21 in response to the smoker drawing on the mouthpiece 13 will flow radially outwardly in the opposite halves of the diametrical trapping passage to flow axially rearwardly in the annular trapping passage 52. However, since the axial grooves 57 and 59 formed on the tip end 53 of the core 23 are disposed approximately 90 from the location of the radially outer extremities of the trapping passage 25, such smoke will not flow in a straight axial line but will tend to spiral around the core body 51 for approximately one-quarter of a turn to encounter the trapping ribs 67, 65 and 63 thus causing such spiral action, in combination with the interference to flow of such ribs, to clean additional tars from the smoke for deposit and trapping within the trapping chamber 17. The smoke-air mixture passing rearwardly past the ribs 63, 65 and 67 will then be introduced to the grooves 57 and 59 to pass rearwardly through the mouthpiece passage 37 to the smokers mouth. Tests reveal that the No. 1 holder produces a percent reduction in tar.

After approximately two weeks time, the smoker will become somewhat accustomed to the relatively tar free smoke from the holder designated No. l and will advance to holder No. 2 which includes the 0.170 inch diameter air bleed port 31 in the wall of the barrel 15 for admitting cooling air in response to the smoker drawing thereon at a rate sufficient to provide an initially relatively small reduction in tar, etc. The cooling air introduced through the bleed port 31 will cool the smoke flowing rearwardly through the aperture 21 to condense and solidify a great portion of the smoke impurities to trap such impurities and prevent introduction thereof into the mouth of the smoker.

After approximately two weeks time, the smoker will become accustomed to the diluted smoke drawn from the holder designated No. 2 and will experience only a relatively minor increase in his nicotene craving by advancing to the holder designated No. 3 which has two breather ports 31 having a diameter of 0.135 inches. The smoker will realize a somewhat greater reduction in tars, etc., with his holder. The smoker may continue to employ the holder No. 3 for approximately two weeks and may then advance to the holder designated No. 4 which includes two 0.170 inch diameter ports 31 and provides for a somewhat still greater reduction in tar, etc. Finally, the smoker will advance to holder No. 5 which includes four 0.170 inch diameter bleed ports 31 to provide for a maximum reduction in tar, etc. Thus the control kit of the present invention enables the smoker to reduce and even quit the highly dangerous habit of smoking without excessive discomfort or cravmg.

It will be appreciated that at any time during use of any of the holders included in the kit of present invention it becomes desirable to clean the trapping chamber 52, the housing portion forming the trapping chamber 17 may be disconnected from the mouthpiece 13 thus leaving the core 23 exposed for wiping of the tars and nicotene from the exterior thereof. Further, the core 23 may itself be removed from the mouthpiece 37 to enable cleaning of the axial grooves 57 and 59.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the smoking habit control kit of the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive and highly effective means for a smoker to control or break his smoking habit while providing for entrapment of a major portion of the tar contained in the smoke actually passed through the respectiveholders.

l claim:

1. Smoking habit control kit comprising:

a set of holders including respective housings formed on one end with tubular mouthpieces defining a passage and on their opposite ends with smoking piece receiving barrels, said housings further being formed with respective trapping chambers disposed intermediate said mouthpieces and barrels, said barrels and trapping chambers being separated by a transverse wall formed with a through aperture, the walls of said barrels of said respective holders being further formed with respective bleed passage means defining progressively larger cross sectional flow areas for each respective holder of I said set to bleed progressively greater quantities of air into the respective barrels upon drawing of partial vacuums in said mouthpieces; and

respective cores received in said trapping chambers and formed on their one extremities with respec' tive tips frictionally held in said respective passages and, further, formed on their respective opposite ends with flat faces abutting said respective transverse walls, said respective tips being formed on their opposite sides with equal cross section axial grooves leading from said respective passages to said respective trapping chambers, said cores being smaller in transverse cross section than the interior of said trapping chambers to cooperate therewith in forming an annular flow path extending axially therealong and being formed in said respective faces with diametrically extending equal cross section trapping passages extending radially outwardly from said respective apertures to said annular flow paths and terminating in radially outer ends disposed 90 from said grooves whereby a smoker may sequentially select holders having progressively larger bleed passage means and upon said smoker drawing on said mouthpieces the smoke from the smoke pieces will be progressively diluted with progressively greater quantities of air and the diluted mixture will flow through said aperture to wherein:

each of said trapping passages has a maximum transverse dimension of less than 0.03 inches. 

1. Smoking habit control kit comprising: a set of holders including respective housings formed on one end with tubular mouthpieces defining a passage and on their opposite ends with smoking piece receiving barrels, said housings further being formed with respective trapping chambers disposed intermediate said mouthpieces and barrels, said barrels and trapping chambers being separated by a transverse wall formed with a through aperture, the walls of said barrels of said respective holders being further formed with respective bleed passage means defining progressively larger cross sectional flow areas for each respective holder of said set to bleed progressively greater quantities of air into the respective barrels upon drawing of partial vacuums in said mouthpieces; and respective cores received in said trapping chambers and formed on their one extremities with respective tips frictionally held in said respective passages and, further, formed on their respective opposite ends with flat faces abutting said respective transverse walls, said respective tips being formed on their opposite sides with equal cross section axial grooves leading from said respective passages to said respective trapping chambers, said cores being smalleR in transverse cross section than the interior of said trapping chambers to cooperate therewith in forming an annular flow path extending axially therealong and being formed in said respective faces with diametrically extending equal cross section trapping passages extending radially outwardly from said respective apertures to said annular flow paths and terminating in radially outer ends disposed 90* from said grooves whereby a smoker may sequentially select holders having progressively larger bleed passage means and upon said smoker drawing on said mouthpieces the smoke from the smoke pieces will be progressively diluted with progressively greater quantities of air and the diluted mixture will flow through said aperture to split into equal flow streams flowing radially outwardly in said trapping passages to then flow in a spiral path through said respective annular chambers to flow rearwardly through said grooves to the smoker''s mouth thereby positively forcing balanced spiral flow in said annular chamber to centrifugally separate tars and nicotine from said mixture and deposit them on the walls of said annular chambers.
 2. Smoking habit control kit as set forth in claim 1 wherein: each of said trapping passages has a maximum transverse dimension of less than 0.03 inches. 